Possible to practice EM again after time away?

[DocHoliday84]

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I am curious if anyone has known of a EM physician who was able to practice in a different specialty for a prolonged time (years) and then come back and get hired doing emergency medicine? I am considering doing palliative care as my exit strategy. I am residency trained in EM and will have been practicing 10 years in EM by the time I leave. I want to stop practicing EM mostly because I don't to do nights anymore, and I want weekends off with my family when my daughter is home from school. The thing is, I of course have invested a lot of time and effort to develop my skills in EM, and I am hoping that it will still be available to me as something I can go back to in the future if I want to. Hoping to not have a reason to do that, but I want the option. Technically, I will still be board certified in EM, and will be practicing clinical medicine, but I am curious if extended time away would be a problem for coming back. Curious what others think.

 

[dchristismi]

Having done exactly that... 12+ years in a busy ED and then transitioned to hospice... you may not want to go back.

I will freely admit that I've lost a lot of my tolerance to run my ass off for 10 hours. I don't have the moral fortitude to intubate great grandpa. I love my practice, and having socked enough away, don't *need* the EM paychecks any longer.

To truly do palliative well, you may need a fellowship. I happened to find a niche not only in hospice (no fellowship for me), but doing very-very-very end of life care requiring inpatient level symptom management. I have new skills now... and while I can still throw in lines and tubes, the thing is, I don't really want to. Now I will also admit that I phased my "retirement" from EM gradually, as it has taken me 2-3 years to come to this acceptance. I'd probably miss it a lot more if I'd gone cold turkey.

I have only been out of the ER completely (not counting my weird oncology gig that I'm also phasing out of) for less than a year, but cut back big time about 2 years ago. Now that I'm much more focused on specific areas, well, it's different. I really love it. Really really. And while I miss a juicy STEMI or a nursemaid's elbow, I certainly don't miss it that much.

I'll technically still be ABEM certified until 2029, FWIW.
You can PM if you want more details.

 

[zurned]

I know a few people who have been out of EM for 2-3 years and came back. They did things that were completely unrelated to medical field. It didn't seem like they had any difficulty getting a job somewhere.

I am sure there are many hospitals that will not hire you. but with the amount of hospitals that need desperate coverage, you can always just locum for 3-6 months and work your way back to the more desirable areas.